Retired female Army lieutenant shows support of combat ban removal

Sarah Moor, Beaumont Enterprise

By Sarah Moore

Published 9:51 am, Thursday, January 24, 2013

Beaumont resident Mary Williams served in the U.S. Army for 21 years, seeing active duty in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Iraq, Bosnia and Yugoslavia. Williams supports the decision to allow women to serve in combat.
Photo: Sarah Moore

Beaumont resident Mary Williams served in the U.S. Army for 21...

FILE - U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Stephanie Robertson, who is part of a group of female Marines tasked with interacting with Afghan women, wades through water on a patrol in Southern Marja, Afghanistan, Sept. 15, 2010. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lifting the military's ban on women in combat, which will open up hundreds of thousands of additional front-line jobs to them, senior defense officials said on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (Lynsey Addario/The New York Times) NO SALES
Photo: NYT, STR

FILE - U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Stephanie Robertson, who is part of a...

FILE - U.S. Marine Capt. Emily Naslund, who is part of a group of female Marines tasked with interacting with Afghan women, aims her weapon after shots were fired at her patrol in Southern Marja, Afghanistan, Sept. 15, 2010. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lifting the military's ban on women in combat, which will open up hundreds of thousands of additional front-line jobs to them, senior defense officials said on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (Lynsey Addario/The New York Times) NO SALES
Photo: LYNSEY ADDARIO, STR

FILE - U.S. Marine Capt. Emily Naslund, who is part of a group of...

FILE -- Cpl. Christina Oliver, center, during a patrol in Marja, Afghanistan in 2010. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lifting the military's ban on women in combat, which will open up hundreds of thousands of additional front-line jobs to them, senior defense officials said on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (Lynsey Addario/The New York Times) NO SALES
Photo: LYNSEY ADDARIO, STR

When Beaumont resident Glenda Simon enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1970, a woman's place in the military was tenuous.

"They treated us like hell," Simon, 62, said of male soldiers at the time. "We were called everything but a child of God, and if we made ranks, we were taking something away from them."

When Simon learned Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Defense had approved women in combat, she said it was a decision long overdue.

Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is expected to announce today the removal of the military's ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war.

The ground-breaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units.

A strong-willed woman, Simon said she didn't let male soldiers intimidate her during her 15-year Army career. Simon retired as a second lieutenant in a high-security clearance position.

In her opinion, "women have what it takes to be in everything" – not just combat.